Scratchy

Lately, the Mama Sailboat has been in dry dock (at least, Julie thinks that's what you call it). Joe has been motoring to bed aboard the Dada Bus. The other night, Joe had his arms around Ted's neck, but at one point brushed his hand against Ted's face, which brought him up a little short. Ted asked if Joe was feeling Daddy's scratchy face, and Joe giggled and said "Scratchy!"

Valentines

Valentine's Day is coming up, as we have told Joe, and as he is fond of repeating. (This replaces "Christmas is coming up!" which he was known to chirp earlier this month.) So we have been busy making valentines this weekend. Turns out, making valentines is kind of a drama-filled activity. The activity was introduced last night and we quickly--very quickly--deduced that we were going to need more stickers as each of Our Hero's valentines requires approximately 100 stickers to be deemed complete.* More stickers were procured at this morning's Target run (froggies with goggly eyes and puffy hearts). Joe was set to make valentines immediately following lunch. Our first drama ensued when he was told time did not permit, and valentine making would follow nap time. Fans, it is really hard not to laugh at your two-and-a-half year old screaming, "I WANT TO CUT!" as tears stream down his face. Immediately upon waking, valentine making was demanded.** It was all going so well until Joe ran out of stickers and requested "to share" Mommy's. Mommy was down with sharing, no doubt, but when she made to cut one of her sheets of stickers in half. . .well, all hell broke loose. Tears, wails. . .So we are on a hiatus from valentine making. The boys are off to the Little Target for two items not in stock this morning at the Big Target and the girls are upstairs--Clara trying valiantly to get to the nest of power cords, and Julie filing this report from the field.

*They also require copious cutting. Ted says they look like ransom notes. Julie laughed really hard at that one.

**Interesting, related sidebar: when Joe got his first scissors, he was promised their use following his nap. He woke up and said, "I want to cut."

The Nine-Month Once-Over

Baby Bird had her nine-month well-child check-up today. (We did not tell Our Hero that we visited Dr. Harrington without him. He's sweet on her, you know.) We begin, as always, with the stats: 18 pounds, 3 ounces (38%) and 28 inches (66%). Our Birdie is birdlike! But Dr. Harrigton isn't worried and speculates that Our Girl is bending the weight curve down because she is such a busy lady. It remains to be seen how she's going to tame the teeter toter with her gentle giant of a brother, but for now, we're not worried. She was pronounced in perfect health otherwise, and was rewarded with a Hepatitis A vaccination which she took in stride.

Now, she was pronounced in perfect health, but we are wondering if something is afoot. The facts:

1. She took two naps in the morning at school today and none in the afternoon. What?

2. When Julie arrived, she was wearing her, "Just hold me. Just. Hold. Me." face. (Julie regrets that she is too old to put this face on anymore. Who doesn't have days like this though really?)

3. She wanted nothing to do with dinner.

4. She had a temperature before bed of 101.7.

5. She was asleep at 6:09pm.

She is sleeping soundly now, still, and has no other symptoms. (In case you, Dear Readers, are, at this point, thinking "What about those super pooper tropper poops we've been reading about?" as we were at the doctor's office, we would report to you that her tummy sounded and felt "beautiful." The poops appear to be, as they say, irrelevant.)

Our Hero Conquers Dressing

What you see here in this picture is a young man who has just dressed himself! That's right, Fans: another step on the road to self-sufficiency is being taken. Now to be sure, there is still some initial confusion surrounding the whole one-leg-for-one-pant-leg bit, though it is sometimes tough to tell if Joe is just playing you. He will sometimes, for example, deliberately flip his coat on over his head upside down and say, giggling, "This way?!" (Oh, it's charming! Except when you are trying to shepherd eight feet and three bags out the door for the day. Then it's sort of maddening.) It's probably only a matter of time before he tries to put his pants on his head and say, "This way?" What is for sure charming is the manner in which Our Hero yanks his pants up with one hand from the front, using a second hand only when he encounters the resistance of a back-of-the-diaper dam and uses a second hand when prompted, and then endeavors to yank them up to his armpits. (These pants will be ON.) Socks are also tricky. He can pull them on, but sometimes, the bottom is on the top and assistance is needed to turn it around. This picture was taken over the weekend, but Joe took his pajamas and diaper off yesterday, and put on all his clothes all by himself. High fives all around. He was pretty pleased with himself.

Baby Bird: A Super Pooper Trooper

We have been meaning to report that for some time now, Baby Bird has been a Super Pooper Tropper. It's almost a sure bet that she'll come home in something different than what she went to school in. This morning, we had a reprieve, but for the three mornings proceeding today, we found Bird in the middle of a poop bomb with massive fallout. Crib stripping down to the mattress required most days. PJ stripping pre-nursing also required, and on all days, which Bird WAS. NOT. HAPPY. ABOUT. One morning, we may have had to cut her under onsie off with scissors. It was a poop-a-palooza. In order to get her nursing sooner, Julie would just whisk her upstairs in her diaper, which meant Baby Bird got to feel the flannel on her belly and she motored around the blankets and pillows after she was done. Much to inspect. The day's books, the day's threads (also taken upstairs), and the camera's lens cap. All pooped out.